Coronavirus in Goa: Panic-buying sees short supply of hand sanitisers

While orders for fresh batches of hand sanitisers have been placed, proprietors have been told by distributors...Read More

PANAJI: F Vaz, a senior citizen and resident of Panaji had to trudge across to eight different city pharmacies, starting from 18th June road till Tonca to find hand sanitisers. He explains, “A sanitiser works faster and it’s also portable compared to a hand wash, which is why I wanted to purchase sanitisers.” Vaz, who was stocking up after the virus outbreak, had to return home without a hand sanitiser. The coronavirus hysteria and panic-buying has led to a serious shortage of hand sanitizers in pharmacies across the city. Pharmacists said that even fresh supplies were getting sold out within minutes, and that there’s been a shift in buying patterns of consumers as they are now purchasing sanitisers and liquid antiseptic soaps in bulk. Coronavirus outbreak live updates“A total of 176 bottles that arrived at 11.10am were sold out by 11.16am as single buyers as well as bulk purchasers emptied the shelves,” said proprietor of Jeevan Rekha medical store in the state capital, Kedar Jirage. Wellness Forever, which has a 24-hour medical store near Don Bosco High School sold out all 80 sanitiser bottles within hours on Wednesday. The staff has been careful to sell only one bottle of hand sanitiser per customer. The company’s other store at 18th June road confirmed that 100 bottles were sold out in two hours on Tuesday, and that demand for medical masks was also on the rise. While orders for fresh batches of hand sanitisers have been placed, proprietors have been told by distributors that there will be intermittent supplies of the solution. “There is an all-India supply shortage due to the enormous demand,” Jirage said. “We’ve placed an order, but our distributors have said that it may take a few days for the package to arrive,” a chemist at another pharmacy in the city said. Other outlets also saw a rush for over-the-counter preventive medical supplies after the World Health Organisation declared coronavirus a pandemic. “We would usually order 100 bottles that would last a week, but with the prevailing situation, the requirement is far more,” said the manager of a general store at Panaji, Nitin Parsekar. “Two hundred bottles of hand sanitisers that were on shelves on Wednesday were sold within hours. People are purchasing multiple bottles and are stocking up on liquid hand wash and tissues,” he said. While worried citizens are panic-buying, some responsible residents are doing their part to prevent even common cold from spreading. “I wear a handkerchief everywhere I go because I have a cold. If it doesn’t go away in a day or two, I’ll purchase a mask,” said Borim-based Rohin Desai, who works in Panaji.